GENERAL:

The USS MAINE was one of the first United States battleships to be constructed.
The vessel's destruction in the Cuba Harbor of Havana was a catalyst in
bringing war between the United States and Spain. The loss of the ship
was tremendous shock to the United States since it represented virtually
the state of the art of naval shipbuilding in the United States, only recently
eclipsed by newer vessels. "Remember the Maine" became the battlelecry
of the United States Military Forces in 1898.

BACKGROUND:

The USS MAINE was the second "second-class battleship" constructed for
the U.S. Navy. The construction of the vessel was authorized by the U.S.
Congress on August 3, 1886. MAINE took nearly nine years to complete. Three
years had been spent waiting for her armor plating alone.

The USS MAINE was unique at the time in that she was purely the product
of American naval design, and was built at a U.S. Naval Yard. By contrast,
her contemporary, the USS TEXAS, was the product
of a design competition, based on an English design, and constructed by
a naval contractor. In fact, the USS MAINE is the largest vessel to be
actually built in a U.S. Navy Yard.

The new battleship MAINE was a showpiece for the United States Navy
and was given many ceremonial tasks. For instance, it took part in the
1897 Mardi Gras ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana along with the USS
TEXAS. Between June and December 1897, the vessel could be found cruising
off the coast of the United States between Virginia and Connecticut. On
December 15, 1897, she got underway, heading south toward Florida and her
final destiny.

The USS MAINE arrived in Cuba's Havana harbor on January 24, 1898.
Because of propaganda from the U.S. newspapers and the Cuban Insurgents,
the situation in Cuba was not fully understood in Washington DC. The U.S.
Consul in Havana, Fitzhugh Lee, was also somewhat
out of touch with the country in which he was living. In response to a
small protest by Spanish officers, not affecting the United States, Washington
sent the USS MAINE, under the command of Capt. Charles
Sigsbee, to Cuba on a "friendly" visit. At about 9:30 PM on February
15, the MAINE was shattered by two separate explosions and rapidly sank.
Two hundred and fifty-two men were killed. Ammunition continued to explode
for hours after the blast.

After
the disaster, U.S. newspapers were quick to place responsibility for the
loss on Spain. In spite of the newspaper propaganda, an official court
of inquiry was held by the U.S. Navy to determine the cause of the blasts.
The Navy concluded that the ship was sunk by a mine which ignited the forward
magazines, but stated that it could not fix responsibility upon any person
or persons, including the government or military forces of Spain. Regardless
of the reality of the situation, the loss of the USS MAINE had turned American
popular opinion strongly in favor of war with Spain. Despite of his efforts
to avoid war, President McKinley finally decided
to militarily intervene in Cuba to end the ongoing unrest and "liberate"
Cuba from Spanish rule. Later studies have indicated the possibility that
the USS MAINE sunk as a result of a coal bunker
fire adjacent to one of its ammunition magazines, and not a result
of a Spanish mine.

The USS MAINE rested on the floor of Havana Harbor until 1911. In
that year, a cofferdam was built around the wreck. The hull was patched
enough to enable it to float. Based on what was found, a second inconclusive
court of inquiry was held, one of many to come. The wreck was then towed
out of the harbor and sunk in sea. It now lies at a depth of thirty-six
hundred feet.

Many momentos of the USS MAINE still exist. The mainmast is in Arlington
National Cemetery, just outside of Washinton DC, and her foremast
is near the seawall at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. One of
her bow anchors is located in Reading,
Pennsylvania's City Park at the first block of North 11th Street. Her capstan
rests in the Battery in Charleston, South Carolina, and her bow
scroll is in Bangor, Maine. Many pieces of the USS MAINE were made
into small collectibles such as ashtrays, plaques,
models, etc.

ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:

The USS MAINE was the United States' first armored ship to be authorized
and the second to be completed. The USS MAINE and the USS
TEXAS represented a great step forward in American naval technology.

One major problem with this type of vessel, and a common problem
aboard warships of the time period, was that the coal bunkers were used
as additional "armor" to protect the magazines. The bunkers were placed
around the perimeter of the ship, and magazines were placed inboard of
this extra layer of protection. Spontaneous combustion fires in coal bunkers
were a possibility, though, unlike some naval vessel, MAINE had no history
of coal bunker fires. A burning coal bunker on the opposite side of a bulkhead
from a magazine full of ammunition presented a real and great danger.

Interestingly, when the USS MAINE was finally launched and loaded
with supplies, it was found that the bow had a draft three feet greater
than the stern. This imbalance was the result of a mistake in the loading
plan. Forty-eight tons of ballast had to be installed near the stern to
put the ship back on an even keel. The USS MAINE therefore had a greater
draft than planned as well as valueless additional weight.

MAINE was caught between two separate roles in the navy and could
not actually fulfill either. She did not have the armor nor the firepower
to slug it out as a ship-of-the-line as was the intended role of a battleship.
She did not have the speed required to serve as cruiser. Cruisers were
intended to be commerce raides, and therefore had to have guns large enough
to attack anything smaller (which MAINE had) but she did not have the speed
to be able to get away from something larger, as was expected of a cruiser.
As a result, her intended role in the navy was ill-defined.

Her coal capacity was quite low at 895 tons (significantly lower
capacity than either that of a cruiser such as OLYMPIA
or a battleship like OREGON) As a result the length
of time she could spend at sea was limited, and her ability to run at flank
speed, where coal consumption increased dramatically, was limited. MAINE's
overhanging turrets did not permit her to be coaled at sea from a collier
without risk of damage to both her and the collier except in the smoothest
of seas. This compounded her range/coal capacity problem

The greatest problem MAINE faced was her odd turret configuration.
The guns were not counterbalanced. If both sets were turned one direction,
the ship heeled over that direction, reducing the range. Firing the turret
on one side of the ship toward the opposite side of the ship was possible,
and intended. This required firing across the deck and through the superstructure.
The vacuum created by the passing shell would damage deck and superstructure
alike. Also if there was a mistake and the gun was fired prematurely, MAINE
could actually shoot itself!

Clerk of Joint Comittee on Printing, "The Abridgement of Message
from the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress",
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899. 4 vols. (all are documents
relating to the war).

Harris, Lt. Cmdr. Brayton, "The Age of the Battleship", New York:
Franklin Watts, Inc., 1965.

Support this Site by Visiting
the Website Store! (help us defray costs!)
We are providing the following service for
our readers. If you are interested in books, videos, CD's etc. related
to the Spanish American War, simply type in "Spanish American War" as the
keyword and click on "go" to get a list of titles available through Amazon.com.